What's on my starter trad rock climbing rack?

Want to buy me a coffee or the boy a dog treat? www.buymeacoffee.com/jbmountain
A starter trad rock climbing rack, what's on it and why. A few top tips and general waffle. Get in touch any time if you've got any questions!
/ jbmountainskills
/ jbmountainskills
www.jbmountainskills.co.uk

[@JBMountainSkills]

Want to buy me a coffee or the boy a dog treat?! www.buymeacoffee.com/jbmountain

[@mountainshinobi2274]

If you want return in value, GIVE lots of value instead and it will come back in floods. Asking for "coffee" or "dog treats" online is no different than pan-handling.

[@JBMountainSkills]

@@mountainshinobi2274 thankfully 99% of people have been a lot more positive and the channel is working really well for me 👊 take it easy

[@nigelmtb]

@@mountainshinobi2274 He's putting out all these videos and good advice for free! You're unbelievable.

[@ricci6361]

​​@@mountainshinobi2274 I find a lot of value in his videos. And gladly gifted some «coffees» to hopefully support him and his awesome videos.

[@cheesecake6696]

For those getting started, get yourself a prusik, a 60cm sling, a belay device, 2 locking carabiners (1 of them for the belay device) and a helmet. With these you can go climbing with people who have more gear and experience (even if it's a climbing course). And if those people dont use a prusik to abseil, just learn to do it anyway. It's much much safer. Also makes it less likely that you will connect your belay device to a gear loop instead of your belay loop.

[@kylesvendsen3908]

I am super excited about trad climbing. I have been a top rope/TRS guy for too long. I love the videos man, thanks for posting them and sharing your knowledge. I plan on taking a trad class this summer and can't wait to get started. Thanks again for sharing.

[@JBMountainSkills]

My pleasure, glad you liked it!

[@superdeluxesmell]

How are you getting on?

[@jeremyballard7461]

Was up at Stannage last week; really glad I had my offsets. First things on my rack.

[@alexmetcalfe6932]

Got to love that Petzl Rig. You slap the roll clip pulley on an ascender it's effortless jugging!

[@laurencehenderson1365]

Awesome video dude! I’m watching each video every morning, keep it up 👍🏼, this video and the how to build a belay videos are my favourite so far.

[@JBMountainSkills]

Cheers Lawrence!

[@lukethornton1942]

Another great video. Made me consider what I take up and can anything go or be added. 😀

[@doughobbs7706]

1:03 - I watched this thing 50 times now and I still cant spot the branding! :P

[@leewknight1979]

Thanks so much... Really loving all the vids... great content & video quality... Thanks for your time..

[@JBMountainSkills]

Glad you like them!

[@clewlow108]

love your videos, am from north wales just down the road from you, just started to climbing and find your videos helpful. thank you also i shop at v12 :)

[@JBMountainSkills]

Cheers!

[@paulhyland7637]

great vid and info Jez.

[@JBMountainSkills]

Paul Hyland cheers!

[@Over_the_hill_tours]

Amazing channel. Thank you!

[@JBMountainSkills]

Thank you too!

[@mozzano]

Nice video Jez. The trad rack I use is pretty similar to what you've shown there though I do tend to leave the bigger hexes behind if I can (love the tip on sticking them in each other though!). I do personally rack nuts on ovals though, I find them easier to handle that way. Quick video suggestion - look at ways to increase the audio volume of you talking (some sort of external mic perhaps)? I had to crank the speakers up to 100 which then nearly killed me with the music at the end :D

[@JBMountainSkills]

Cheers, glad you liked it! Thanks for the feedback... microphone received in the post today and music levels turned down a bit!

[@hen1823]

Hi JB, let me start by saying how much I love your videos. Thank you so much for this very useful content! Do you prefer clipping a quickdraw into a nut/cam or is a snapper enough? Just a carabiner would mean less weight, of course. Greetings from the Alps

[@JBMountainSkills]

Hi Hen. Cams sometime get used with just a snapper as they have that bit of sling anyway. Nut always get a quickdraw, as they're stiffer we want to try and stop them getting lifted out etc.

[@philg27]

A few close ups while explaining the individual aspects of different kit would have made it a little more informative but great vid all the same 👍

[@ninonnoiret]

Hi there! thanks for this video, really really helpful! just.a question, is there by any chance you got the list of things by writting? it's just that i'm french but doing the RCI in scotland now, and i did put subtitles on the video but as you can imagine sometimes it writes nonsense...anyway let me know :)

[@JBMountainSkills]

Pleasure! I think if you search for a more recent video I did on the subject, there is a list in the description :)

[@Menelaos_Nanas]

Could you share your thoughts on Abalak stopers or Camp tricams (they are more or less the same) ?

[@JoshuaOakleyWordsworth]

Hey. Excellent video! I'm in the process of putting together a rack and your videos are so so helpful! Having never trad climbed before I'm looking for courses. I'll be in the peak district from late July. Any contacts?

[@JBMountainSkills]

Glad you liked it 👊 Drop me an email to [e-mail] and we’ll see if we can sort something 💪

[@jeffreycheshire6735]

Thanks for this, just what I needed. DMM now sell Torque nuts in wired format as well as integrated slings, but they are both heavier and weaker, (only by 2kN), so you think there's any good reason to buy them, other than maybe the shorter lifespan of the sling?

[@jeffreycheshire6735]

Also, how do Peanuts and Imps compare?

[@jeffreycheshire6735]

On rereading the DMM details it would seems the wired version is more for ice climbing and overhead placement...

[@JBMountainSkills]

I much prefer IMPS to Peenuts, bite much better, would only be carrying these on E1 and above. Wired hexes give more reach, some people prefer them, others don't. I don't. I prefer the extendable sling on a torque nut, often saves a quickdraw. 2kn less isn't a concern for me at all.

[@JBMountainSkills]

What would YOU add or take off? For me as I up the grades a little I might double up on the smaller nuts.

[@wyl600]

the video and audio cuts out at 5:04 till 5:09, or is it just me?

[@JBMountainSkills]

Dammit that slipped through the net, good spot!! I forgot to delete a ripple in the editing.

[@Nick-B78]

Wyl Got me too. I thought iPad had run out if juice

[@JBMountainSkills]

I put it in there on purpose to check people were watching, it was a test, honest, nothing to do with me not checking enough, honest!!!

[@robslater3489]

I carry doubles on my offsets and some of the Camp Pro nuts found they work really well in North Wales.

[@robertdavies9435]

Brilliant video. I noticed a few years back that there are tricams obviously they aren't in the kit you've showed. Do you have any opinions on them?

[@JBMountainSkills]

Glad you liked it. Tricams can be great, they're a bit of niche bit of kit, but if they fit the niche brilliant!

[@robertdavies9435]

@@JBMountainSkills thank you for the info. I don't think I've found the niche for them yet!

[@beardeddude2910]

Great video again!! What are the chances you can utilize your garden/immediate area and do some gear placements then explain the do' & don'ts??

[@JBMountainSkills]

Been thinking about this... I'll certainly see if I can do something..!

[@beardeddude2910]

@@JBMountainSkills would you do gear placements with every type of protection (offsets, walnuts, friends, etc) in a single video or each type in it's own video?? You could break down the structure, design of certain ones and then do placements??

[@JBMountainSkills]

@@beardeddude2910 it'd be in a one'er, but not sure if it will be possible to do it well yet... I'll only do the vids if they work well and this one might need a proper crag.... I'll let you know!

[@beardeddude2910]

@@JBMountainSkills damn shame crags ain't portable!!

[@MrPielips]

just found your u tube channel this evening and been bing watching since. any chance you could go through the kong slyde? always used a cows tail. thanks for sharing

[@JBMountainSkills]

Glad you've enjoyed them! I'll see if I can work it in to another video :)

[@jeremyballard7461]

Just come across the DMM Half nuts. Where do these fit in the grand scheme of things? A bit of head scratching here, but there must be a reason for them.

[@JBMountainSkills]

I've only recently bought some.... but it seems they're good in shallow cracks....

[@georgemitson9565]

Hi Jez, Dmm make slings upto 400cm. Would you and if so where would you use a sling of this length?

[@JBMountainSkills]

I find them a bit of a faff to be honest, 240cm is as big as I go.

[@georgemitson9565]

@@JBMountainSkills Seems too un weirdly to me too, I was just trying to think why Dmm bother to make them so long?

[@jeffreycheshire6735]

I did wonder this myself, and can only assume they are for looping over particularly big features, rather than use a lot of rope, or maybe for equalising 3 pieces that are widely spaced, and still keep the angle under 90 degrees without needing 2 slings. That said, it's probably something you might buy after finding a need for it on a long term project, rather than more versatile sizes that could be combined...

[@stevepinnell453]

Hi George, I've got a monster 400cm sling that I use when setting up bottom-rope belays when climbing with friends who aren't ready for trad just yet. It's fab, you just chuck it over a boulder and boom - done! Certainly wouldn't want it on my trad rack though... :-D

[@2f126]

what's your opinion on buying secondhand gear? for people like me who want to get in to trad but can't afford new

[@JBMountainSkills]

Metal stuff is normal ok but I wouldn't be interested in fabric stuff. All depends of course...!

[@jonnow3441]

Hey Dude, what length are your medium length Quickdraws, please? U don't mention the size in the video. I'm trying to put a rack together so be great to know. Thank you.

[@JBMountainSkills]

I normally have something like 12cm, 18cm, 25cm plus sling draws

[@jonnow3441]

@@JBMountainSkills Cheers dude! That was a super quick reply! thanks.

[@wyl600]

When will you be selling merchandise? Like your custom T-shirt?

[@JBMountainSkills]

Coming soon 😂

[@thecathouse]

this is only true italian coffee!

[@mattbaker1683]

This is an excellent intro to trad racks, thanks. I have just got the DMM protection package which consists of the 1-11 wallnuts, 7-11 offsets and 1-4 torque nuts. This is a pretty comprehensive package that will suit a lot of situations but clearly not all. I am considering complimenting this with the WC superlight offsets 5-10 which seem to be more like conventional nuts, could I ask your thoughts on this and do you have any experience with these? (The alternative is classic rocks 6-10 or wallnuts 7-11 which seems less useful, 11 and torque nut 1 are the same size) These look like an excellent choice to carry for scrambling/mountaineering fast and light days with just a few slings etc. Maybe also a couple of the big size conventional WC Rocks too? Thanks again for the great videos you keep putting out.

[@JBMountainSkills]

Hi Matt, glad you liked it! I wouldn't go Superlights to start with, I think they're a little niche, I use the DMM version, but not often. I'd be more inclined to go for a another 1-6 Wallnuts or WC Rocks. Personally I only use Walnuts, I don't find Rocks offer much variation and I like DMM! You'd have a very versatile rack with just that addition :)

[@mattbaker1683]

@@JBMountainSkills brilliant, thanks for the reply. Seems like your mates at V12 are the best. Might have to pay them a visit in a couple of weeks. 👍

[@dravenstone8532]

Cams aren't trad

[@JBMountainSkills]

You what?